


Take Two

by Bemused_Writer



Category: Blackwell Series (Video Games), Unavowed (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-07-10 22:38:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15959039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bemused_Writer/pseuds/Bemused_Writer
Summary: Joey spots an unusual pairing heading into a local bar. The conversation he has with them could change his life for good.





	Take Two

**Author's Note:**

> There will be minor spoilers for one of _Unavowed_ 's endings along with spoilers for _Blackwell Epiphany_ , so bear that in mind while reading.

Joey first saw them when he was walking down the street. It was a man and a woman, side by side. Nothing unusual there. No, he wouldn’t have noticed them at all except that there was something … familiar about the man. It wasn’t that he knew him, Joey realized that right away. Rather, it was his bearing and the clothes he wore.

It was like he came directly from the past.

Joey knew what that was like.

The two stepped into a bar across the street. Joey paused. He should leave well enough alone; he could hear distant rumbles and he really needed to get back home before the storm hit. He didn’t know them and even if there was something strange going on it wasn’t like he could see ghosts anymore. By all accounts he was utterly average. It had nearly broken him when he realized that. He’d hoped that, somehow, he could continue the work he and Red had been pursuing so vigilantly. It had meant so much to her in the end. Joey wished he’d realized that sooner; he would have teased her less if he had.

His legs moved of their own accord and suddenly Joey found himself directly in front of the bar. He sighed in acceptance. He’d just take a look, see what sort of people they were. He wished it didn’t matter so much but now that he’d latched onto the idea, no matter how loosely, he couldn’t just leave it alone. He wanted to know why there was another person in town dressing in such old-fashioned, yet eternally stylish, suits.

Hesitantly, he stepped through the door. It was a regular bar by all accounts. The lights were a little dimmer than was the norm but it was also late at night and he imagined the truly intoxicated wouldn’t appreciate anything bright.

He saw the two of them immediately. They were talking softly in the corner.

“What can I get you?” Ah, the barkeep. He was a young man, probably in his 20s, and he looked far too awake considering the hour. Joey supposed he would have to get something. Briefly, he remembered the one time he’d tried to get Red some action at a bar much like this one. It had ended terribly but, while Joey had been somewhat dismayed his efforts had been for naught, it had also been hilarious. That was his girl, a cat lady for life.

He smiled softly at the recollection before focusing on the present.

“Right, I’ll take a bee’s knees.”

The bartender gave him an odd look. People still drank that, right? Despite spending three years living in the present Joey was no closer to having any idea of what was trendy outside of clothes and that was just the tailor in him fighting for survival.

“Sure, give me a second. Don’t get a lot of requests for that.” The bartender studied him momentarily before getting to work. “Are you a historian or something ?”

“Eh? No, why do you ask?”

“It’s just,” he looked uncomfortable, like he knew he would regret asking. “You dress very … formally, I guess? Especially considering where we are.” Joey got that a lot but he refused to update his wardrobe. Suits were a staple. “Plus, you’re requesting such an old-fashioned drink.”

“Old-fashioned is my middle name,” he said dryly. In his own era Joey had been considered rather forward thinking. He had looked forward to new technologies, a desire that had been utterly spent after he’d died. So far, being brought back to life had done little to reignite his passion. He supposed it was because all he really wanted was someone to enjoy it with. Back in the day he’d had Danny, then Lauren, and finally Rosangela. He missed them.

Joey wished the man would hurry up. He had a conversation to eavesdrop on. But he was incredibly methodical as he measured out the gin and honey. He then put in some lemonade and Joey quickly gave up on having a proper version of this drink. Oh, well. Fresh lemon juice was probably too much to hope for in this part of town.

He strained his hearing in the hopes he would pick something up. The man had a pleasant voice but the way he inflected his words was different from most people. It was an older style, closer to how Joey would go about saying things. The woman sounded … wise. He wasn’t sure how else to put it. Something about her was ever so slightly off but he supposed the same could be said about the man.

He caught something about a “Mel” and that they missed her. Joey instantly felt sorrow. They were in mourning. Yes, he understood that very well.

Finally, the bartender offered him his bee’s knees. Joey took a small sip and blinked. It was actually very well done. Joey handed over a couple of dollars—he still wasn’t used to “debit”—and strolled over to a table near the curious couple.

They noticed him and immediately began to speak in softer voices. Ah, they were the wary type then. Well, there was no use for it. He’d just have to introduce himself.

Distantly he wondered what was wrong with him. He had pushed Red to be more social but when it came down to it Joey had never been especially sociable in life himself, not that Rosangela ever would have guessed. Maybe that was part of why he’d tried to get her to try a little harder. He knew what it was to leave life wishing you’d spent more time with certain people, gotten to know other people. Did she regret it, wherever she was? Had she been satisfied spending every waking moment with Joey? He’d been difficult company, he knew that, but he hadn’t been terrible.

Had he?

Joey waved the bartender over and ordered two more bee’s knees. “For the two here,” he nodded in their direction. They stared at him, the man in surprise, the woman more warily.

“Thank you…?”

“My name is Joey. It sounded like the two of you had a loss recently. I know what that’s like.” Modern culture seemed to frown on starting up random conversations. Cafes were full of people on their laptops, steadfastly ignoring one another. Joey didn’t particularly care since he didn’t usually want to talk to any of them but these two didn’t seem to find his behavior all that strange. Joey added it to his mental tally of outdated quirks they portrayed. Although, he admitted to himself, bars tended to be a little more social even if it was just the booze talking.

“Well, why don’t you come join us then, Joey. My name is Eli and this is my partner, Mandana.” She nodded in greeting. Joey took a seat across from both of them. He wasn’t prepared to get too chummy. He wondered if “partner” was intended in the professional or romantic sense. Back in his day it would have indicated work without question but Joey was an old-timer now.

“You lost someone recently?” Eli asked carefully.

“Yeah, three years ago. Her name was Rosangela.” He wasn’t sure why he was telling these strangers his sob story. He’d barely touched the alcohol, so he couldn’t very well blame it for his sudden onslaught of emotion. He thought he’d started moving on but now he was beginning to wonder if he’d ever even begun the process.

“Was she close to you?” Mandana said. She was looking at him intently; her eyes were an unusual color, almost yellow. Joey thought they had a kind air to them but they had clearly seen a lot. And now he was waxing poetry. He was in a strange mood tonight, that much was certain.

“She was. Not romantically or anything. Red was … incredible though.” After Lauren, romance had been the last thing on Joey’s mind. He’d just wanted everything to stop hurting. Things had for a while with Rosa and he’d always be grateful to her for that.

Mandana smiled warmly. “You speak truly.”

“What about the two of you then?” Joey said. He didn’t want to think about Rosa too much. He already visited the bridge more often than he should in the hopes that maybe he would see her again. Rosa may not be a ghost but Joey certainly felt as though she were haunting him.

“Her name was Mel. She was an odd one, that’s for sure.” Eli was smiling but he looked hesitant. Mandana met his eye and something silent passed between the two of them.

“Too soon to talk about?” Joey offered.

“She’s not dead, exactly,” Eli said hesitantly. Mandana raised an eyebrow, clearly wondering what he was doing.

“What happened?” Joey was curious despite himself. No, he’d already been curious. Something about this man took him back in time; it was like he was in the 1930s speaking with Danny again. His suit was a little different from what would have been popular back then but not by much. He had blond hair and sharp, blue eyes.

Those blue eyes were utterly focused on him right now, analyzing him, determining his character, he supposed. He must have passed some kind of test because he said, “She … took on too much. She saved a lot of people but we’re not sure where she is.”

“She saved all of us,” Mandana added. “She saved the world.” She and Eli looked at each other awkwardly. Joey had a sneaking suspicion they’d have a discussion about this later.

“Sounds like something Red would do. Did. I mean, every spook in the world and as if that weren’t enough—“ Joey clamped his mouth shut. What was he doing? He couldn’t tell people about something like that. He’d sound crazy!

But then it occurred to him, did it matter? So what if these two thought he was crazy; he’d never see them again. And wasn’t it an old man’s right to reminisce?

“She was always taking on too much,” Joey continued, cutting off whatever question Eli had been about to ask. “I never really considered it. I guess I was selfish. It was hard enough being dead but to know I was being a burden as well … I didn’t want to think about that. So, I teased her. A lot. She gave as good as she got though. In that regard, she was a little bit like her aunt. But to be honest, she handled it all a lot better than Lauren did. She really embraced being a medium, she really cared about those spooks, you know? I think she cared more than I did. I wish I could see them still. I wish she were here.”

He stared down into the depths of his glass, as though it might offer answers or perhaps a reprieve from what had become his reality. He was a man out of time and he didn’t know what to do about it. He’d started up a tailoring business. He made decent money. All of that had been easy enough to adjust to. But actually living? Doing more than the daily grind? He didn’t know how to anymore.

“You’re … telling the truth,” Mandana said in surprise. She and Eli exchanged a look.

“Wait, your friend was a Bestower?” Joey looked up. It was his turn to be shocked. These people knew about Bestowers? Eli looked intrigued, as though he’d just discovered an interesting puzzle. Mandana simply looked concerned.

“Uh, yeah,” Joey stuttered. “Wait, how do you two know about that?”

“Oh, you could say we’ve gotten up to some supernatural things ourselves,” Eli chuckled. “I think we should get to know each other a little better.”

“Eli, he’s a mundane. No offense,” she looked at him apologetically. “I simply do not sense anything unusual emanating from you. You’re not a Mage and you’re not void-touched.”

Joey’s gut reaction was to deny magic was even possible. Then he remembered he was basically a member of the living dead and he kept that to himself. He reluctantly conceded that if ghosts and “vampires” existed that there was the possibility there was even more out there. It was … disconcerting to say the least.

“He just said he used to be dead,” Eli laughed. “He can’t be all _that_ mundane.”

“Hate to break it to you, but ever since Red … moved on, I haven’t been able to see ghosts. So your friend is right. I’m mundane.” There was a trace of bitterness in his tone that he wished he could disguise a little bit better. He didn’t want anyone to realize just how much it hurt.

“I’m sorry. You … clearly have unusual circumstances.” Mandana looked conflicted. “But Eli speaks truly. What do you mean, you used to be dead?”

And suddenly it was all pouring out of him, how he used to be a spirit guide but he hadn’t realized that’s what he was, not really. He’d just figured there was nothing else to do but help other spooks and he and Lauren had figured, well, what else could he be? He told them about Patty, Lauren, Rosangela, and about how Madeline had nearly ended the world in one fell swoop.

He told them about Rosa’s sacrifice and about how she’d given him everything and yet, despite all of it, he felt like he had nothing.

No one said anything. For a moment, the only sound in the bar was of the bartender wiping down tables, steadfastly ignoring them.

“Eli is correct,” Mandana breathed. “You are no mundane, void-touched or not. Logan will want to speak with you.”

“Never mind Logan,” Eli exclaimed. “ _I_ want to talk to him! The things you’ve been through! It’s unheard of. And to get an account of what it’s like to be a ghost from someone who actually used to be a ghost; this is incredible! You’ve got to come back with us.” Eli resembled a child on Christmas. Joey couldn’t remember the last time he’d made anyone this happy.

Mandana’s interest was more muted but it was obvious she was just as curious. “I would agree. Even if you can’t sense ghosts still, I think you would be a valuable asset. And we are in need of more members.”

“No offense, but I have no idea what either of you are talking about.” Asset? Members? What were they trying to get him wrapped up in?

“We’re like supernatural police, if you will. We call ourselves the Unavowed. Come on, we’ll explain on the way. Let’s get out of this dreary place!” The bartender shot him a look but Eli didn’t seem to notice. Mandana rolled her eyes fondly.

And just like that Joey found himself in the midst of it all once more. He wasn’t a spirit guide and Rosa still wasn’t back but maybe, just maybe, he could piece himself back together by helping other lost souls, living or dead.

He breathed in deeply. For the first time since coming back, he actually felt alive.

**Author's Note:**

> I loved _Unavowed_ so much! But there wasn't enough Joey, so I had to write this. I got the worst ending right off the bat, tried again, and still got a sad ending, so that inspired this as well. XD Also, I'm not at all familiar with alcoholic beverages but I did a bit of research on what was popular in Joey's era, so I hope it worked.
> 
> Let me know what you think!


End file.
